Looks like I've been classed as a submissive by accident or someshit, I know right? Me of all people huh! Annnnnyway exciting news for you is that we're gonna be bunking together! ~Yay~ You don't snore do'ya? And if we get actual bunks, I shotgun the top one!!
Anyway, I've not been around for the last few nights as I bumped into an old friend here, been crashing at there's- Dude you should see how the other half live here! It's sooooo unfair! But yea! I'm your roommate, the one and only Gojo Satoru~
[Zoro registers the username (a baseless claim), the terms "roomie" and "submissive" (things he never consented to), and contemplates disregarding the message (doing everyone a favor in the process). But then this stranger — Gojo, he calls himself — brings up beds and weapons in the same sentence. In the end, it's a simple choice.
Zoro serenely places the device between Wado Ichimonji's hilt and his own chest. He rests his head against the pillows.
[ Listen punk, Gojo Satoru is the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer of his time! Don’t be calling his name a baseless claim unless you’re willing to go toe-to-toe with him! However, the rest of that, sure, he’d agree! He never picked to be submissive nor did he pick to have a roommate but here they are and you’re stuck with him now, unless one of them gets a contract and moves out before the other that is. And honestly, who in their right mind would want someone like Gojo?! He’s a total liability.
For a moment then, Gojo thought he’d called the wrong number or that it had gone straight to voicemail until that unimpressed voice responded. ]
-What? Hey! No that’s not fair!! I’m not even there yet! You can’t anyway! I called shotgun, don’t you know the unspoken rule of calling shotgun my man!? Wanna fight me for it? Rock, paper, scissors? Thumb wars? Ever heard of this dumb game called Hot Hands, Slapsies, Slap Jack, red tomato, slappy-patties?
i mean i guess i cant say 100% for certain he doesnt havent gotten that close to him yet sadly but no its someones default face even when theyre resting they look ready to set the world on fire w their gaze sound like anyone u know?
legally the arena is ur best bet but if ur bloodlust is so unquenchable that laws cannot contain u the down is always up to no good at night take out a few assholes and hope no one reports u
[Just as promised, Vrenille calls that evening after their chat. The rebuild of the Manor is still not complete, so he's in the basement--quite a large basement that's been subdivided into different living areas by a variety of screens and curtains so that from where he sits only part of it's visible.
He's in what counts as his "bedroom"--there are a couple of mattresses stacked on the floor, crates and boxes in place of drawers and furniture. It's relatively tidy for what it is, but it's still, in effect, a makeshift camp in something like an underground bunker, lighting functional enough to see, but garishly bright in some places and deeply shadowed in others.
Vrenille doesn't look the least bit put out by any of that though. He's dressed in comfortable inside clothes, soft and loose fitting. He looks cozy, relaxed, and he greets Zoro with an easy smile, sitting cross legged on his bed.]
Hey. Welcome to the...well, it was called 'the Manor at Forest Sauvage.' [He snorts a little.] Or 'the terrarium.' Neither suits it real well right now.
[Zoro, a picture of forced austerity, sits on the hard cot in his cell. Drab city-issued clothes, several weeks' wear etched in wrinkles and faded color, cling to his muscular frame. He's rolled up the sleeves, revealing forearms dusted with a faint sheen of sweat despite the cool temperature of the cell. A shadow of stubble darkens his jaw.
His gaze, steady and resolute, meets Vrenille's through the video screen, betraying none of the frustration or hardship of his confinement.]
[Compared to the last he saw him, Zoro does not look well. Hardly shocking, given the givens, and it's not even a surprise how stoic he is about it, but it's not something Vrenille likes to see. By silent agreement, he doesn't draw attention there, but he notes to himself how Zoro's chosen not to show it--the traces of reluctance that bespeak an opposition to letting it work for sympathy. He has respect for that. And for his own part he has no complaints. Sure, he's living in a basement, but the ceiling is whole, and he can come and go as he pleases.]
I've had way worse.
But on my word, it'll get better--it's actually looking good above ground. Be ready to move in soon.
Me, Hakkyuu, Kim, we all live here. I'm hoping you'll join us--city expects you'll join us half time at least. But you'll have your own room, your own space. And we're not bad guys to live with, I think. Kim's very civilised. [Himself and Hakkyuu? Eh, debatable.]
[He appreciates Vrenille's silence on the less-than-hospitable nature of his current accommodations. Even if he'd offered a pitying word or two, Zoro would have shrugged it off with his usual nonchalance. Years of going it alone, a skill forged well before he'd left his village, built a wall of self-reliance. His captain and crew back home, that was different – a flicker of warmth still burns in that corner of his heart. Here, though, it's largely been every man for himself, as familiar and unyielding as the bars keeping him enclosed.
Vrenille's offer was definitely a stark contrast to Zoro's usual mercenary deals. Somehow, this feels more like... purpose. A shared fight to survive the best they can. Something the warrior in him understands. Plus, the guy doesn't seem to treat his contract partners like disposable assets or playthings.
Zoro lets his gaze linger on Vrenille's relaxed clothes.]
...Didn't realize room and board was part of the deal. Does the city expect me to join you for half of quota, too?
Most days. [It is livelier, yes. And now that they're on video, he has the benefit of Zoro's expression to gauge whether for him that seems like a bad thing.
When it comes to it, he knows so much less about him than anyone he's ever signed a contract with before, and that makes it difficult to know a lot of what to offer him. It matters though. He wants him to be happy--or as close to it as possible in this place.] It's in the Up and out towards the edge of town though, so quieter too.
'Fore the quake, it was this stupid, massive glass house that got left to me by someone when they left this place. Always felt it'd be pretty mean me living somewhere so fancy while any of my people were anywhere less. House'll be different now, but I still feel that way.
Quota though, there's no expectations--not from the city or me. We can do as much or as little you like. Or need. Anyway, my quota's different. Kim's and Hakkyuu's too. We've all been here more than a year and they change it once you've "graduated."
[Zoro's poker face remains in place, a testament to his time bounty hunting alone that had taught him to keep his emotions close. Maybe later, once settled, he might let his guard down a notch. But for now, directness was key.]
Lively or quiet, doesn't matter much as long as it doesn't cut into my nap time. [A beat of silence. He shifts his gaze away from Vrenille for a moment, as though staring towards a distant horizon visible only to him.] ...My crew back home was pretty crazy too.
[Vrenille's mention of "his people" isn't lost on him, and he lets it hang in the air for a moment, turning it over in his mind. Zoro woudn't call this group his own in the same sense, his loyalty already pledged elsewhere. But practicality, gratitude, and the knowledge that his captain wouldn't want him rotting in jail on his account, nudge him forward.]
Good to know. Congrats. [He makes eye contact again, lightly tilting his head to one side.] ...What's the big deal with graduation, anyway? You said so yourself, you still have quota.
Nap time. Check. [Vrenille smiles back at that, easy and unguarded. It doesn't matter right now whether Zoro means it to be literal or figurative. It's a meeting place, a coordinate, like what he says next.]
Your crew. My guild. They don't stop mattering even when we're here. And both a bit crazy sometimes. Once you're outta there, maybe we share a bottle sometime and you tell me 'bout them. [He'd like to hear. He'd like to share too. Two way street. But there's also no pressure--it's an invitation, in Zoro's own time. The way power is distributed in this city, Vrenille considers it more than fair if he wants to play some cards close to the vest for a while.
He's got to snort a laugh on the question about graduation though.] Literally nothing. Used to be there was no quota once you graduated. They give you a whole hundred bucks and they call you a "citizen" here, but it's a farce mostly. Any freedoms we gained have been chipped away by the Creator through the years.
Now each month I get some special sex "assignment" to do. [He raises one hand to make the scare quotes.] This month it was outercourse.
[He watches Vrenille's smile unfold, easy and genuine, the kind that would disarm most people. No hidden agendas, no veiled threats — just a friendly openness, along with a promise to respect a man's naps. He's not surprised Vrenille has multiple contract partners, a large circle of people he trusts.
That sort of warmth with others isn't something Zoro displays often. In fact, his face stays impassive, though a flicker of something unreadable — perhaps curiosity — sparks in his eyes at the mention of Vrenille's guild. Sharing stories isn't exactly Zoro's forte. Drowning them in drinks, on the other hand...]
Make it two bottles. [He concedes, and for a moment the facade does soften, the corner of his mouth twitching faintly.] Then we'll talk.
[Graduation's "benefits" actually wring a humorless snort from him. A hundred bucks and a worthless title? That's not a reward, it's a participation trophy. Or a consolation prize for anyone stuck here, depending on how cynical they're feeling about it.
A hint of an edge creeps into Zoro's words.]
So, just meeting quota isn't enough for them anymore? Now they've gotta control how you do it, too?
[No qualms, no reservations, no counter-negotiating. Two bottles it is. He doesn't even call it a steep price. Why would he when he sees the play of expressions that cross Zoro's eyes, subtle and fleeting but no less marked--little signs along a trail pointing him on the way.
You have to take people on their own terms, let them lead you and see where they go. You have to surrender to their current or the only places you'll end up are ones you've already been--your places, not theirs. These are things Vrenille has learned by experience; they're the ways he's survived. Only now he doesn't do them for survival. Now he does them because he wants to, because it matters. Getting to know Zoro, coming to understand him on his own terms, that matters to him.
The edge of anger tells him some of it too. And Vrenille shares the sentiment; he's just had a lot longer to get used to it.]
Creator's bitter that no one's given him his own personal giganticus lupicus yet, maybe. I'll never put it past him just being a vindictive little shit. Whole damn experiment's basically his vanity project anyway. I'll tell you my thoughts on all that too sometime--that'll be three bottles.
[Actually, he'd tell him for less. He'd tell him for none. But he won't tell him over the network. It's too high risk for them both, even in a private conversation.]
But at least now I've only gotta jump their hoop once instead of three times. It's a trade.
[The unfamiliar term leaves him more confused than angry. But Vrenille had clearly signaled a desire to hold off on deeper explanations, so Zoro keeps his voice low.]
... You know what, make it five bottles. Seems like we've got a lot to unpack.
Oh, the giganticus lupicus. The great giants. They went extinct like ten thousand years 'fore the gods left. People who know 'bout this stuff say it was 'round the time of the last dragonrise--I mean before this recent dragonrise we just had.
[Yes, quite a considerable amount to unpack indeed. But a gloss on his meaning for now:]
It's like saying...he wants a unicorn. I think that's what the earth folks say anyway. [Which may or may not be helpful to Zoro.] He's searching for a unicorn without his "deceit gene" and so far we're all bog standard centaurs who have it.
Anyway, booze is one thing you don't gotta worry 'bout. We do pretty good for food too. [And here he's just going to casually steer them a little more towards the purpose of their call.] Good for a relaxing evening routine--or whatever suits you.
[He did notice that light sheen of sweat on Zoro's arms when the feed flicked on. That means he hadn't been sitting idle. He'll hazard a guess about that.] You train morning and evening? You've managed it even in there?
[Giant wolves, mythical horses, or whatever else — it sounds like a campfire story, which, yeah, he now realizes was Vrenille's point. But Zoro isn't one to lose sleep over fairytales. If the big guy is frustrated about his pet project, that sounds like his own problem.
As for the more practical matters...]
Whatever you've got. [A hint of sardonicism briefly crosses his face.] Probably beats jail rations.
[Sleep, booze, food, and training — those were the necessities. Confinement isn't going to stop him from staying in shape.]
Mornings and evenings, yeah. [There's a steely glint in his eye.] Always found ways to stay sharp, even in here. Fancy equipment's just a bonus.
[There's a certain bittersweetness these days when Vrenille thinks about food for the group--it's always been wrapped up in memories of home and guild for him, ever since he got here. But there are nearer memories now too, and food is also, for him, part of an older and hard-learned calculous of survival. It doesn't surprise him, then, when it's the echo of Carver's voice that answers in his mind:
No one starves here.
The only surprise is how it hits him, so close and deep that just for a moment he closes his eyes and, fleetingly, for the span of a breath, welcomes the ghost in.]
Yeah.
[He looks at Zoro again.] I reckon we can beat jail rations.
Probably actually got some of that fancy equipment too. Or we will do.
Tell me your routine? I mean the ideal version--no cell door, no restrictions, any kinda space you'd like. What would that look like for you? [Not that he knows if he can accommodate it, not that he's promising, but it's something that matters. If he has the capacity, he'll try.]
[Zoro silently observes the flicker of melancholy that crosses his face.
He chooses not to pry, letting the moment pass, and absorbs Vrenille's words instead. As he considers the question, he sits a fraction straighter on the cot, his dark eyes drifting towards the blank wall as he meticulously visualizes his ideal routine in his mind's eye.
Eventually, he begins in a low voice:]
Wake up before sunrise. Find a quiet spot with some space. Do some stretches, focusing on breath and form. Then, it's a mix — basic drills, weapon practice, footwork exercises. Gotta keep the body sharp, all of it. Push myself till the sweat runs.
Noon's for lunch and a nap. Back at it in the afternoon, maybe some sparring if there's a good challenge around, or I'll use a kit to clean my blades if they need it. Otherwise, I either do weight training, or focus on control and precision this time.
Ends with dinner, and then some meditation to clear the head and get ready for some more shut-eye.
[This is the most he's spoken at once in a while, likely more than he would've shared with anyone else. He recognizes Vrenille's question as a bridge, an attempt to build a connection.
With the hint of a shrug, he adds:]
Ideal's a luxury, not a necessity. The unexpected is just another training ground. I can adapt. A gym's nice, but space and the will are all I need.
Space is no problem--grounds are plenty big and there's the woods beyond. And once we've got the house sorted, most of this down here'll be converted back to a gym again. We made a plunge pool where a crater formed too.
And Kim's the only one here who doesn't meditate--he's a library guy. Hakkyuu usually starts his day with it. I'm flexible. [Maybe because it's been part of his life for comparatively less time.
Either way, they can pretty well tick a lot of Zoro's boxes straight off.]
You're getting in on the ground floor of how we set up a lotta the smaller bits, and I'm open to suggestions. This is gonna be your home too--for as long as you're happy in it.
[And he wants Zoro to be happy. However they've gotten to this point, from the moment they set the intention to contract, it became his concern to try and see that Zoro is as happy as the city will allow. If there are little tweaks or edits he can make in the arrangement of spaces that they'll all use, he's more than willing to do that.
This is also, however, an intensely dedicated training schedule that Zoro describes, and that illuminates other things. Opens up other questions. It's the first time Vrenille starts to properly understand Zoro's bounty hunting as a means to an end, what that really means in his life, and the more granular detail of his dedication that's veiled in the background behind it. Supporting him means supporting that, which, all right, that Vrenille can do.
Though also, counterpoint, which he says with just a touch of a sardonic smile:] Biggest challenge may be finding a reason why you'd wanna go out at all.
[Plenty of space sounds ideal. Less chance of interruptions, everyone can find their groove. He gives a slow nod, a flicker of something akin to approval crossing his features.]
That a cold plunge? I like those.
[At the mention of "home", Zoro pauses and experimentally weighs the word in his mind. Nothing about this concrete jungle had ever felt like home. But Zoro already decided when he first arrived, that he'd need to leave space within himself to embrace the unexpected, even if it was a sliver. Vrenille's spontaneous camaraderie, this offer, solidifies that choice.]
[There's a spark of challenge in his eyes as he raises his chin to meet Vrenille's.]
... Depends. Does that gym come stocked with a full bar?
[Oh, it's on now. Bring it, Zoro. He meets the first challenge and raises him.] Temperature controlled and everything.
[Zoro can have his cold pluge at exactly the temperature he wants it. Even in mid-summer.
As for the bar, he snorts.]
No. What am I, a heathen? [Beat.] The bar comes stocked with a full bar. [Two of them, in fact. Indoor and outdoor. But he'll leave a bit of mystery for Zoro to discover on his own.]
[It may be a subtle smile, but it's there, which he'll take as a win. There's a special kind of pleasure in making taciturn men smile a little, and Vrenille's always had a knack for it.
It also gives him an opening to broach another topic that he's kept waiting in the wings.]
In all seriousness, I'd actually like you to get a job. Can be anything you want--I'm sure I can help set you up with something if you're short on ideas.
As contract partner, I can authorise you to spend money whenever and wherever you like. But that doesn't do much good unless you've got money of your own to spend. I don't wanna be holding your purse strings. That's your business.
[Having lived off the grid for months, Zoro already has an answer in mind. He wastes no time in delivering it.]
Arena already gives me everything I need. But if someone with cash appreciates a clean takedown and the bottom of my boot, let me know. If it helps meet quota, even better.
[No shame in the work, not when it means a full plate, a cold beer, and most importantly, his freedom.]
All right. [Vrenille inclines his head once in approval, muting his smile just a bit to disguise how well he's anticipating Zoro and Hakkyuu are going to get along once they get to know each other--no sense in jinxing it.
Anyway, at the moment he's got other questions, mostly pertaining to Zoro's approach to quota thus far and how he seems to envision it going in the future.
Excepting one of the Stephens (rather a unique case), Zoro is the first person Vrenille's even considered contracting with who he hasn't had sex with beforehand. That's not a deal breaker for him, but it is different. He's used to having at least some gauge of his sexual compatibility with the men in his household, and while it's true that he's flexible enough to find sexual compatibility with almost anyone if he puts his mind to it, he would still prefer to get his bearings a little.]
You said something like that earlier too--'bout people who wanna be stepped on, or watched, and meeting quota that way. You said those things don't get you off. [He wouldn't judge him if they did, but right now, he's taking the statement at face value.
He cocks his head, attentive and considering.] What does get you off, Zoro?
[Vrenille's question lingers in the air for a long moment. Zoro doesn't rush to fill the silence. The answer lives deep within him, an instinct as primal as breathing. It's the surge of power, the dance of focus and exertion as he pushes his body to its peak. It's the complete control over every muscle, every fiber, culminating in a release so intense it makes him feel truly alive. But translating that raw experience into words feels like trying to cage lightning. Action has always been his language, not explanation. And this, he determines, will be no different.
"I already told you, I jerk off before bed sometimes," prickles on Zoro's tongue, sharp with frustration that has nothing to do with Vrenille. He stifles the retort, taking a moment to close his eyes. Finally, he answers with a question of his own:]
[It wouldn't have shocked him if Zoro hadn't answered, if he'd balked, if he'd snapped something back at him, and maybe not even out of stubbornness.
Vrenille, as it turns out, has a lot of experience in this area--not just sex, but listening. Listening to what men want about sex, even when they maybe can't say it, don't know it, have never quite figured it out. That's experience he gained long before he came to Duplicity. It's experience he literally survived by for years.
Zoro has never struck him as a man who doesn't know himself, though sometimes it happens that men know themselves well in every area except the sexual. Vrenille has known plenty of guys who've left erotic desire as the one dark continent in their lives, something cast out, cast low, a sort of adversary. So he's really ready for anything as far as an answer goes, and in the one he gets, he listens not just to the words but to the shape of things behind them where it's more a matter of feeling his way than reasoning it.
With a soft sound of assent, he nods once.]
When you start out, haven't done it much before, it comes on quick. It's a limit. You have to come back. Do it again. And again. Patient. And then the distance grows. And one day your lungs burn, but you don't gotta stop--it's like it's...with you, not against, and then it's like you can fly.
[That's in his own experience, the coordinate he can relate the question to. But tacitly, it's also a question in return, and he's watching Zoro closely to see what he does with it, whether the words resonate, coming close to something for him, or land wide of the mark.]
[A curt nod from Zoro, a beat of silence following. Not quite hesitation, but a man navigating unfamiliar terrain – the landscape of expressing his inner world.]
Pushing my limits. Empties the noise. [A beat.] ...Helps me sleep.
[It's a utilitarian approach, perhaps harsher than most. His self-reliance borders on the austere. Integrating a partner wouldn't exactly be seamless. But for Zoro, it's served him well so far.]
[Is that all it's for? Vrenille wonders. Pure utility?
As austere as it is, emptying the noise means that there is noise, noise which otherwise might irk, might disrupt. So it's a formula for keeping a disturbance at bay, maintaining the sort of strict self-discipline that certainly appears to rule Zoro's life through and through. Sex, or at least his body's need for release, takes shape as something that he's found a way to put into its place in the ordered regimen of life.
It's all rather divorced from desire like that, granted. But it's not Vrenille's place to question or challenge that--certainly not now or like this. You can't go around disrespecting people like that, believing they ought to live a different way, as if you know what's "good" for them, as though you could live their lives better than they are doing themselves. That's pure hubris.
And frankly, Vrenille being here at all, in context that's a pretty big step--he's being given a chance to meet Zoro on his own terms, understand his outlook. When someone offers you that, you honour it. So what he asks next, though his voice shifts a degree more sultry, the tone for secrets and words of collusion, is all about being with Zoro where he is, accepting a welcome and extending an invitation in return, accompanying, proposing maybe, but not disrupting.]
Do you edge yourself? Bring yourself right to the point where you couldn't stop yourself cumming and then back off 'fore you do. Wait till it ebbs, and then bring yourself that close again. See how many times you'll hold out for?
[Vrenille's sultry voice paints a clear scenario, but Zoro doesn't fully lean into it, opting to remain cautiously anchored for now. Still, there's a subtle shift in his posture. Curiosity, maybe. At the very least, it's not a dismissal.
Even if this seems to be an invitation, Zoro hasn't dismissed the possibility that it's also a test. So he studies Vrenille with the watchful focus of a tiger encountering a new element in its territory.]
[Vrenille's not going to pretend for a minute that he doesn't appreciate that sound Zoro makes, subtle though it might be. And he doesn't mind letting that be known either, because here's the thing: with anything sexual, as soon as a second person is involved, an element of risk is introduced.
It's a craps shoot, ultimately, especially on a first encounter. One can maximise their odds in any number of ways, but no matter who's topping or bottoming or domming or subbing, it's always impossible to be sure in advance whether your partner will satisfy or disappoint (or frustrate, or embarrass, or hurt you). And some guys don't like that. Everyone has their own appetite for risk with sex just like anything.
So that watchful look Zoro is giving him? Vrenille's not phased; he's not even particularly surprised. What he is is very well practiced at handling sexual risk. And what experience has taught him is that there's a lot of value in taking the step to make himself vulnerable first.
He does it now simply by letting his teeth tug the edge of his lower lip, letting the expression in his eyes shift a degree closer to want, and handing Zoro the power to turn him down, shut him down, rebuff the advance.]
You ever do it with someone? Matching each other. Leading each other. Finding a rhythm, and telling 'em when to wait, when to go?
["With someone?" Those words stir up the memory of a night in some backwater bar, long before he'd developed a tolerance for booze. A marine man, objectively handsome in his clean-cut way, had sidled up beside him. The next few hours were a blur of clinking glasses, swirling smoke, and the warm press of another body. Eventually, Zoro woke up with a splitting headache and the chill of rented sheets. He can't remember much else...probably because it was something he could've easily done alone.
(And anything worth remembering wouldn't have ended with the marine, whoever he was, disappearing without a word.)
In hindsight, it was pretty stupid. But it was a learning experience, too. That kind of intimacy simply didn't serve him. As his reputation as "the demon" grew, so did Zoro's vigilance. Rebuffing advances became second nature — a curt word or a stare cold enough to extinguish anyone's interest.
A flicker of that reflex ignites in his gut at Vrenille's suggestive look. But this time, a hitch in his breath, Zoro holds it, observing his own reaction. In that sliver of self-awareness, he realizes something: The stakes with Vrenille are laughably low.
So, Zoro exhales slowly, nostrils flaring.]
Not really. But with someone worth the effort, maybe the steps wouldn't be so damn tedious.
[Leaning closer, a challenge glints in his eyes as he adds in a rough voice:]
[Oh, there he is. There's that competitive spark, the linking up of how Zoro is in the world with how he is--or could be, could explore being--sexually. It's that degree to which finding a spark, an object, something to pique one's interest is always, in a sense, re-finding it in a new manifestation, a new form.
That's something Vrenille knows how to work with. That's something he likes to work with.
His own memories from long before he ever set foot in Duplicity already involved enough encounters with enough men to blur one into the next--there were some he saw again and again who stood out, figures in bas-relief against the background homogeneity of quick blowjobs behind the Ebon Vanguard barracks and hired rooms above the tavern more memorable for the soft bed and hot bath he could leverage than the company he kept.
The faces of those men may blur, and mostly he never knew their names only the colour of their coin, but that doesn't mean there was no care or intimacy between them, albeit in a nonstandard sort of way. It doesn't mean he didn't learn from them--the sum total of them, each taken one by one.
He learned how to listen, how to hear (and say) "no," but also the more complicated and subtle versions of "yes," the guarded versions of it, the ways that "yes" gets couched as a challenge, or a dare, how it wants sometimes to flirt with danger, rivalry, opposition. And importantly, he learned to tell the difference between the kind of risk that plays and the kind of risk that genuinely threatens. He wouldn't be alive or whole now if he hadn't.
So he's neither lying nor exaggerating when he cocks his head at Zoro, a rakish grin and his voice breathy, low.]
Years of practice and experience.
[He shifts to lean on his side, settling in and getting comfortable, with just a slight note of disbelief and playful counter-challenge coming into his tone.]
Nah. Just bores the hell outta me with someone who makes it a chore.
[Zoro flashes his teeth in a way that could be generously called a grin, his dark eyes hardening like polished obsidian. The gap in experience would intimidate some people, but he remains unfazed.]
[It's not exactly the highest bar to reach, though it does leave quite a lot of room for damning with faint praise later. Vrenille's not worried about taking his chances though. Zoro's warning just wins a snort of laughter.]
Ugh, good, don't. Sir's for nobles and Pact captains. I ain't fancy. [There are particular occasions and scenes in which Vrenille has accepted being called 'sir.' He doesn't prefer it though. Mostly it's just a concession he makes to those who enjoy the word when it happens. But that's not the most salient point.]
Will you follow my lead though, touch when 'n how I tell you to touch? [That's his only ask for this, that Zoro let him guide them, that he cede enough control for that, just for now.]
[That's when Zoro absorbs Vrenille's question, its weight settling in his gut. Does it lodge like an unwelcome splinter, or click into place like a missing puzzle piece? He takes a measured beat before answering with an audacious request of his own:]
... Only if we make this interesting. Blindfold yourself. You call the shots, but you won't see anything unless I say so.
[It certainly is audacious and it throws Vrenille for so much of a momentary loop that there's a huff of a laugh of disbelief--at the request, at the fact he didn't see it coming, at the way it turns everything he thought would happen right on its ear.]
What, seriously? [That's rhetorical though, because even though he's shaking his head, he's also already moving to get up from his bed and find a blindfold.]
Well all right, if you're shy. [He favours Zoro with a teasing, daring look before he disappears from the screen for a moment, and the view of the camera shifts, his hand momentarily in view adjusting the angle and propping the phone in place to show a wider angle of the room: a salvaged chest of drawers that he rummages through from the bottom drawer up, a few items picked up and then discarded before he finds what he's after.
Zoro asked for a blindfold and Vrenille dangles the one he has from a forefinger for approval. He definitely won't be peeking.]
[He is, deep down. But that's not the game he's playing. Zoro simply isn't in the business of making things easy for LIERs who hold the reins. Thankfully, Vrenille's swift presentation of the blindfold elicits a slow nod of acceptance. This challenge goes both ways, though, so he clarifies:]
Curiosity's fine, and you can always ask to take it off. But the view is on my terms. [A subtle tilt of his head.] ...I wanna see how good you can be. Sound fair?
[To be fair, if Vrenille believed that Zoro really was, primarily, shy, he wouldn't tease him about it. But whatever degree of gentleness genuine shyness brings out in him, that's not at the forefront here.
Here they're playing, testing each other, seeing how the other will rise to a challenge and how he'll navigate it. There's strategy, and in that they're on much more even ground than the disparities of experience might imply. So Zoro gets a very cheeky grin as Vrenille returns.]
[Zoro may be the picture of stoicism, but it makes Vrenille laugh--free and warm and untroubled in that way people can be when they've made an art of not taking themselves (or sex) too seriously. He's not even trying to hold it in.]
Yeah, I'd say the chances of that are low.
[He moves his phone on its tripod to the mattress, positioning it so that it should keep him well in shot, and then without another word or the slightest hesitation, he strips off his shirt and pulls on the blindfold. When he lies down, again on his side, the camera captures him from just below his eyes to about mid-thigh, the soft material of his track pants showing a hint of contours, but not too much. The frame centres muscles and smooth skin with no major scars, a light dusting of hair below his navel. He can't see how he looks though--he has to trust his eyes to Zoro.]
You're gonna have to tell me if the view's all right.
[That laugh earns a faint twitch at the corner of Zoro's lips. It stirs a memory - an echo from a time before the city swallowed him whole, when his world stretched beyond the crow's nest, and the company he kept was warm and easy.
Zoro watches as he adjusts the camera. Vrenille's physical appeal is undeniable, much like the Marine man before him. His build speaks of someone who keeps himself in shape. But the absence of scars leaves his combat experience, if any, a mystery.
As he secures the blindfold, Zoro shifts on the cot, a subtle release of tension seeping from his own muscles. When he speaks, his words are low and quiet, giving no hint of his internal evaluation.]
[Vrenille is starting to learn how in Zoro-speak 'No issues here' could just as well be a glowing endorsement as ambivalence or apathy, and without the benefit of sight, he has even less basis to gauge which it is. He chooses to hear it, therefore, a bit like the classic comeback to 'How's your head?' ('No complaints.') And he'll take that, ambiguous ironic understatement and all.
So that only leaves him to get started, and at this point a lot of people might balk or equivocate with nervous laughter and embarrassment. Vrenille just runs his fingertips along his midline, from his clavicle down to the centre of his chest and back again, a relaxed opening on self-stimulation.]
Good. So I thought, I'll just show you what I like to do--tell you. And you can--[His fingers trail lower, to his navel and the top of his waistband]--join me.
[Zoro can't help but track Vrenille's movements, his gaze tracing the confident lines of his body. Even blindfolded, Vrenille exudes an unshakeable certainty. Other men in Zoro's position might feel overwhelmed, his own experience dwarfed by Vrenille's. But a familiar calm washes over him as he mirrors the other man's posture, settling deeper into the cot.
His gaze snags on the dip of Vrenille's navel. A low hum leaves his throat, a sound that hangs in the air, open to interpretation. This may be a game, a dance matched to Vrenille's rhythm, but for now, Zoro lets himself be led.
You're 'bout to be in your own. [It's a playful purr of a drawl right back, Vrenille's hand sliding down over the front of his track pants, fingers playing against himself.]
Start rubbing yourself through your pants, just easy, slow. Not in any rush. Let your body relax.
[The fabric stretches a little beneath his fingers, the view of an outline just fleetingly, only semi-hard. He adjusts himself and the material around him as he hardens, and it's probably obvious he's got no underwear on beneath, especially when he pauses to trail his fingers back up.]
Touch your nipples. Could be through your shirt, or maybe you wanna slide your hand inside, touch your skin like I'm doing. But don't pinch or pull 'em. Just slow, gentle.
[With one hand he touches his own, forefinger tracing carefully around the nub of skin, a light friction that tugs and rolls beneath his fingertip. And then, languid touch running the span of his chest, he teases that same touch against the other.
A little sigh of pleasure, and his cock throbs, untouched, a visible pulse that lift the fabric of his pants for a moment as he hardens further.]
‼️ATTENTION‼️ 💀👻ALL HALLOWEEN🎃🕸 HOES😙💅 ITS TIME TO GET ☠️SPOOKY💀 YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS👏 GET 👊FISTED👊 BY A 💀SKELETON 💀SHOVE✊🍭 CANDY 🌽🌽CORN🍬 IN YOUR👉PUSSY😽 AND 🙅DONT🙅♂️ FORGET TO SUCK😩🙌 SOME 💏DRACULA💉 DICK🍆💦😫 SO PUT 🔛 YOUR 👗👑COSTUMES👘👒 AND GO 🚪DOOR TO DOOR🚪 👀👅💦BEGGING😩 FOR THAT 😍GOOD GOOD😍 SEND THIS TO TWELVE1️⃣2️⃣ ☠️SPOOKY👻 🍑SLUTS🌮 TO 👁️ SHOW💁 THAT YOURE READY TO GET SOME 🍫CHOCOLATE🍫 COVERED 🍆DICK🌽
Hello! Have you enjoyed any manmosas lately or has Luffy been hogging them? Anyway, I'm doing some research and I'd really appreciate if you could answer some questions. Don't worry. I'm not going to sell it off to some questionable group or anything.
Address: Age: What are your hobbies and interests? What is your favorite color? Do you drink alcohol?
luffy usually handles the orange juice. I take care of the rest.
sure:
Name: Roronoa Zoro Address: here Age: 21 What are your hobbies and interests? drinking and training What is your favorite color? green Do you drink alcohol? is water wet
thanks. not sure how they got it, but at least someone was entertained.
Thank you for signing up for our Secret Santa! Please let me know if you require any assistance at all. Here is the information for your gift recipient.
Yours, Daphne Basset
Name: Colin Bridgerton Address: Dominant Housing, 014-A Age: 23 What are your hobbies and interests? Pursuit befitting a gentleman. I enjoy a good whisky as much as I enjoy a good book. What is your favorite color? Blue Do you drink alcohol? Yes Is there a note you would like to leave for your Secret Santa? Merry Christmas! If there is anything else you would like to share, please do so here. Anthony would also include an additional note that states "My brother has had a bit of a rough beginning to his time here. He is kind and sentimental and would benefit from a bit of holiday cheer. -A"
[a rather hefty package appears on Zoro's doorstep on the morning of Christmas Eve - one that might perhaps have been difficult to lug around, but thankfully two floors on the elevator isn't much of a hardship. Despite its weight, it has been wrapped with care. Tied up with a bow, even, and a gift tag with flourishing handwriting-]
With the warmest wishes for Midwinter, and for the year to come. From your Secret Santa
[...Linneus sadly did not know whether or not names should be revealed at the end. Oops?
Inside is a sturdy green-leather drinks chest and, in absence of guidance on Zoro's preferred drink (or a price limit), Linneus has included a selection of three - a whiskey, a brandy, and a rum - in the hopes of assuring a very merry Christmas indeed. In addition to the bar tools, sipping glasses, and jigger included in the side wings, there is a small recess in the top lid holding a hip flask for good measure.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
voice call; un: #stronger-than-you（＾ω＾）
[
I am so sorry for this, Zoro.]Looks like I've been classed as a submissive by accident or someshit, I know right? Me of all people huh! Annnnnyway exciting news for you is that we're gonna be bunking together! ~Yay~ You don't snore do'ya? And if we get actual bunks, I shotgun the top one!!
Anyway, I've not been around for the last few nights as I bumped into an old friend here, been crashing at there's- Dude you should see how the other half live here! It's sooooo unfair! But yea! I'm your roommate, the one and only Gojo Satoru~
voice call; un: swords
Zoro serenely places the device between Wado Ichimonji's hilt and his own chest. He rests his head against the pillows.
His next words are low and languid.]
. . . I'm already sleeping on the top bunk.
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For a moment then, Gojo thought he’d called the wrong number or that it had gone straight to voicemail until that unimpressed voice responded. ]
-What? Hey! No that’s not fair!! I’m not even there yet! You can’t anyway! I called shotgun, don’t you know the unspoken rule of calling shotgun my man!? Wanna fight me for it? Rock, paper, scissors? Thumb wars? Ever heard of this dumb game called Hot Hands, Slapsies, Slap Jack, red tomato, slappy-patties?
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How old are you.
un: m
[ He knows the answer, but the illusion of free will is important to people. The more he can give it to people, the less they usually dislike him. ]
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[Saying he had the funds made getting his foot into the door easier from Zoro's end, at least.]
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damn
u must have a beautiful smile
[ Just kidding. He saw that finder plug. ]
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so that makes sense
hes got rbf for days
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resting bitch face
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i mean
i guess i cant say 100% for certain he doesnt
havent gotten that close to him yet sadly
but no
its someones default face
even when theyre resting they look ready to set the world on fire w their gaze
sound like anyone u know?
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saying he's got rbf made it sound like some kind of disease
but I think I get your point.
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i bet some ppl would consider it an affliction tbh
all that to say
congrats
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thanks
if you got anymore gigs where I can hit things, I'm always open to extra work
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but if ur bloodlust is so unquenchable
that laws cannot contain u
the down is always up to no good at night
take out a few assholes
and hope no one reports u
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I'll keep that in mind.
[Of course, that won't put beer in his cup, or decent swords at his side. But Zoro is confident in his ability to sustain himself with what he's got.]
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the violent need to stick together
maybe we should start a club or a non-profit
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we talking brunch mimosas or hard liquor
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theyve got brunch specials
and slam poetry
[ The latter of which is a joke. ]
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sounds good
where is that
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u know where the community center is?
its 4 blocks down and a right
big black door right there
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4 blocks north
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i can meet u at the center if thats simpler for u
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do u know how to get to the community center
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ill be the really tall guy
video; @diversions
He's in what counts as his "bedroom"--there are a couple of mattresses stacked on the floor, crates and boxes in place of drawers and furniture. It's relatively tidy for what it is, but it's still, in effect, a makeshift camp in something like an underground bunker, lighting functional enough to see, but garishly bright in some places and deeply shadowed in others.
Vrenille doesn't look the least bit put out by any of that though. He's dressed in comfortable inside clothes, soft and loose fitting. He looks cozy, relaxed, and he greets Zoro with an easy smile, sitting cross legged on his bed.]
Hey. Welcome to the...well, it was called 'the Manor at Forest Sauvage.' [He snorts a little.] Or 'the terrarium.' Neither suits it real well right now.
video; swords
His gaze, steady and resolute, meets Vrenille's through the video screen, betraying none of the frustration or hardship of his confinement.]
Nice digs.
[He casts a dry glance around his own cell.]
Feeling at home already.
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I've had way worse.
But on my word, it'll get better--it's actually looking good above ground. Be ready to move in soon.
Me, Hakkyuu, Kim, we all live here. I'm hoping you'll join us--city expects you'll join us half time at least. But you'll have your own room, your own space. And we're not bad guys to live with, I think. Kim's very civilised. [Himself and Hakkyuu? Eh, debatable.]
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[He appreciates Vrenille's silence on the less-than-hospitable nature of his current accommodations. Even if he'd offered a pitying word or two, Zoro would have shrugged it off with his usual nonchalance. Years of going it alone, a skill forged well before he'd left his village, built a wall of self-reliance. His captain and crew back home, that was different – a flicker of warmth still burns in that corner of his heart. Here, though, it's largely been every man for himself, as familiar and unyielding as the bars keeping him enclosed.
Vrenille's offer was definitely a stark contrast to Zoro's usual mercenary deals. Somehow, this feels more like... purpose. A shared fight to survive the best they can. Something the warrior in him understands. Plus, the guy doesn't seem to treat his contract partners like disposable assets or playthings.
Zoro lets his gaze linger on Vrenille's relaxed clothes.]
...Didn't realize room and board was part of the deal. Does the city expect me to join you for half of quota, too?
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When it comes to it, he knows so much less about him than anyone he's ever signed a contract with before, and that makes it difficult to know a lot of what to offer him. It matters though. He wants him to be happy--or as close to it as possible in this place.] It's in the Up and out towards the edge of town though, so quieter too.
'Fore the quake, it was this stupid, massive glass house that got left to me by someone when they left this place. Always felt it'd be pretty mean me living somewhere so fancy while any of my people were anywhere less. House'll be different now, but I still feel that way.
Quota though, there's no expectations--not from the city or me. We can do as much or as little you like. Or need. Anyway, my quota's different. Kim's and Hakkyuu's too. We've all been here more than a year and they change it once you've "graduated."
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Lively or quiet, doesn't matter much as long as it doesn't cut into my nap time. [A beat of silence. He shifts his gaze away from Vrenille for a moment, as though staring towards a distant horizon visible only to him.] ...My crew back home was pretty crazy too.
[Vrenille's mention of "his people" isn't lost on him, and he lets it hang in the air for a moment, turning it over in his mind. Zoro woudn't call this group his own in the same sense, his loyalty already pledged elsewhere. But practicality, gratitude, and the knowledge that his captain wouldn't want him rotting in jail on his account, nudge him forward.]
Good to know. Congrats. [He makes eye contact again, lightly tilting his head to one side.] ...What's the big deal with graduation, anyway? You said so yourself, you still have quota.
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Your crew. My guild. They don't stop mattering even when we're here. And both a bit crazy sometimes. Once you're outta there, maybe we share a bottle sometime and you tell me 'bout them. [He'd like to hear. He'd like to share too. Two way street. But there's also no pressure--it's an invitation, in Zoro's own time. The way power is distributed in this city, Vrenille considers it more than fair if he wants to play some cards close to the vest for a while.
He's got to snort a laugh on the question about graduation though.] Literally nothing. Used to be there was no quota once you graduated. They give you a whole hundred bucks and they call you a "citizen" here, but it's a farce mostly. Any freedoms we gained have been chipped away by the Creator through the years.
Now each month I get some special sex "assignment" to do. [He raises one hand to make the scare quotes.] This month it was outercourse.
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That sort of warmth with others isn't something Zoro displays often. In fact, his face stays impassive, though a flicker of something unreadable — perhaps curiosity — sparks in his eyes at the mention of Vrenille's guild. Sharing stories isn't exactly Zoro's forte. Drowning them in drinks, on the other hand...]
Make it two bottles. [He concedes, and for a moment the facade does soften, the corner of his mouth twitching faintly.] Then we'll talk.
[Graduation's "benefits" actually wring a humorless snort from him. A hundred bucks and a worthless title? That's not a reward, it's a participation trophy. Or a consolation prize for anyone stuck here, depending on how cynical they're feeling about it.
A hint of an edge creeps into Zoro's words.]
So, just meeting quota isn't enough for them anymore? Now they've gotta control how you do it, too?
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[No qualms, no reservations, no counter-negotiating. Two bottles it is. He doesn't even call it a steep price. Why would he when he sees the play of expressions that cross Zoro's eyes, subtle and fleeting but no less marked--little signs along a trail pointing him on the way.
You have to take people on their own terms, let them lead you and see where they go. You have to surrender to their current or the only places you'll end up are ones you've already been--your places, not theirs. These are things Vrenille has learned by experience; they're the ways he's survived. Only now he doesn't do them for survival. Now he does them because he wants to, because it matters. Getting to know Zoro, coming to understand him on his own terms, that matters to him.
The edge of anger tells him some of it too. And Vrenille shares the sentiment; he's just had a lot longer to get used to it.]
Creator's bitter that no one's given him his own personal giganticus lupicus yet, maybe. I'll never put it past him just being a vindictive little shit. Whole damn experiment's basically his vanity project anyway. I'll tell you my thoughts on all that too sometime--that'll be three bottles.
[Actually, he'd tell him for less. He'd tell him for none. But he won't tell him over the network. It's too high risk for them both, even in a private conversation.]
But at least now I've only gotta jump their hoop once instead of three times. It's a trade.
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[The unfamiliar term leaves him more confused than angry. But Vrenille had clearly signaled a desire to hold off on deeper explanations, so Zoro keeps his voice low.]
... You know what, make it five bottles. Seems like we've got a lot to unpack.
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[Yes, quite a considerable amount to unpack indeed. But a gloss on his meaning for now:]
It's like saying...he wants a unicorn. I think that's what the earth folks say anyway. [Which may or may not be helpful to Zoro.] He's searching for a unicorn without his "deceit gene" and so far we're all bog standard centaurs who have it.
Anyway, booze is one thing you don't gotta worry 'bout. We do pretty good for food too. [And here he's just going to casually steer them a little more towards the purpose of their call.] Good for a relaxing evening routine--or whatever suits you.
[He did notice that light sheen of sweat on Zoro's arms when the feed flicked on. That means he hadn't been sitting idle. He'll hazard a guess about that.] You train morning and evening? You've managed it even in there?
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As for the more practical matters...]
Whatever you've got. [A hint of sardonicism briefly crosses his face.] Probably beats jail rations.
[Sleep, booze, food, and training — those were the necessities. Confinement isn't going to stop him from staying in shape.]
Mornings and evenings, yeah. [There's a steely glint in his eye.] Always found ways to stay sharp, even in here. Fancy equipment's just a bonus.
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No one starves here.
The only surprise is how it hits him, so close and deep that just for a moment he closes his eyes and, fleetingly, for the span of a breath, welcomes the ghost in.]
Yeah.
[He looks at Zoro again.] I reckon we can beat jail rations.
Probably actually got some of that fancy equipment too. Or we will do.
Tell me your routine? I mean the ideal version--no cell door, no restrictions, any kinda space you'd like. What would that look like for you? [Not that he knows if he can accommodate it, not that he's promising, but it's something that matters. If he has the capacity, he'll try.]
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He chooses not to pry, letting the moment pass, and absorbs Vrenille's words instead. As he considers the question, he sits a fraction straighter on the cot, his dark eyes drifting towards the blank wall as he meticulously visualizes his ideal routine in his mind's eye.
Eventually, he begins in a low voice:]
Wake up before sunrise. Find a quiet spot with some space. Do some stretches, focusing on breath and form. Then, it's a mix — basic drills, weapon practice, footwork exercises. Gotta keep the body sharp, all of it. Push myself till the sweat runs.
Noon's for lunch and a nap. Back at it in the afternoon, maybe some sparring if there's a good challenge around, or I'll use a kit to clean my blades if they need it. Otherwise, I either do weight training, or focus on control and precision this time.
Ends with dinner, and then some meditation to clear the head and get ready for some more shut-eye.
[This is the most he's spoken at once in a while, likely more than he would've shared with anyone else. He recognizes Vrenille's question as a bridge, an attempt to build a connection.
With the hint of a shrug, he adds:]
Ideal's a luxury, not a necessity. The unexpected is just another training ground. I can adapt. A gym's nice, but space and the will are all I need.
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And Kim's the only one here who doesn't meditate--he's a library guy. Hakkyuu usually starts his day with it. I'm flexible. [Maybe because it's been part of his life for comparatively less time.
Either way, they can pretty well tick a lot of Zoro's boxes straight off.]
You're getting in on the ground floor of how we set up a lotta the smaller bits, and I'm open to suggestions. This is gonna be your home too--for as long as you're happy in it.
[And he wants Zoro to be happy. However they've gotten to this point, from the moment they set the intention to contract, it became his concern to try and see that Zoro is as happy as the city will allow. If there are little tweaks or edits he can make in the arrangement of spaces that they'll all use, he's more than willing to do that.
This is also, however, an intensely dedicated training schedule that Zoro describes, and that illuminates other things. Opens up other questions. It's the first time Vrenille starts to properly understand Zoro's bounty hunting as a means to an end, what that really means in his life, and the more granular detail of his dedication that's veiled in the background behind it. Supporting him means supporting that, which, all right, that Vrenille can do.
Though also, counterpoint, which he says with just a touch of a sardonic smile:] Biggest challenge may be finding a reason why you'd wanna go out at all.
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That a cold plunge? I like those.
[At the mention of "home", Zoro pauses and experimentally weighs the word in his mind. Nothing about this concrete jungle had ever felt like home. But Zoro already decided when he first arrived, that he'd need to leave space within himself to embrace the unexpected, even if it was a sliver. Vrenille's spontaneous camaraderie, this offer, solidifies that choice.]
[There's a spark of challenge in his eyes as he raises his chin to meet Vrenille's.]
... Depends. Does that gym come stocked with a full bar?
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[Zoro can have his cold pluge at exactly the temperature he wants it. Even in mid-summer.
As for the bar, he snorts.]
No. What am I, a heathen? [Beat.] The bar comes stocked with a full bar. [Two of them, in fact. Indoor and outdoor. But he'll leave a bit of mystery for Zoro to discover on his own.]
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Now you're making me wonder if you even want me to leave the house.
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It also gives him an opening to broach another topic that he's kept waiting in the wings.]
In all seriousness, I'd actually like you to get a job. Can be anything you want--I'm sure I can help set you up with something if you're short on ideas.
As contract partner, I can authorise you to spend money whenever and wherever you like. But that doesn't do much good unless you've got money of your own to spend. I don't wanna be holding your purse strings. That's your business.
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Arena already gives me everything I need. But if someone with cash appreciates a clean takedown and the bottom of my boot, let me know. If it helps meet quota, even better.
[No shame in the work, not when it means a full plate, a cold beer, and most importantly, his freedom.]
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Anyway, at the moment he's got other questions, mostly pertaining to Zoro's approach to quota thus far and how he seems to envision it going in the future.
Excepting one of the Stephens (rather a unique case), Zoro is the first person Vrenille's even considered contracting with who he hasn't had sex with beforehand. That's not a deal breaker for him, but it is different. He's used to having at least some gauge of his sexual compatibility with the men in his household, and while it's true that he's flexible enough to find sexual compatibility with almost anyone if he puts his mind to it, he would still prefer to get his bearings a little.]
You said something like that earlier too--'bout people who wanna be stepped on, or watched, and meeting quota that way. You said those things don't get you off. [He wouldn't judge him if they did, but right now, he's taking the statement at face value.
He cocks his head, attentive and considering.] What does get you off, Zoro?
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"I already told you, I jerk off before bed sometimes," prickles on Zoro's tongue, sharp with frustration that has nothing to do with Vrenille. He stifles the retort, taking a moment to close his eyes. Finally, he answers with a question of his own:]
...You ever try running until your lungs burn?
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Vrenille, as it turns out, has a lot of experience in this area--not just sex, but listening. Listening to what men want about sex, even when they maybe can't say it, don't know it, have never quite figured it out. That's experience he gained long before he came to Duplicity. It's experience he literally survived by for years.
Zoro has never struck him as a man who doesn't know himself, though sometimes it happens that men know themselves well in every area except the sexual. Vrenille has known plenty of guys who've left erotic desire as the one dark continent in their lives, something cast out, cast low, a sort of adversary. So he's really ready for anything as far as an answer goes, and in the one he gets, he listens not just to the words but to the shape of things behind them where it's more a matter of feeling his way than reasoning it.
With a soft sound of assent, he nods once.]
When you start out, haven't done it much before, it comes on quick. It's a limit. You have to come back. Do it again. And again. Patient. And then the distance grows. And one day your lungs burn, but you don't gotta stop--it's like it's...with you, not against, and then it's like you can fly.
[That's in his own experience, the coordinate he can relate the question to. But tacitly, it's also a question in return, and he's watching Zoro closely to see what he does with it, whether the words resonate, coming close to something for him, or land wide of the mark.]
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Pushing my limits. Empties the noise. [A beat.] ...Helps me sleep.
[It's a utilitarian approach, perhaps harsher than most. His self-reliance borders on the austere. Integrating a partner wouldn't exactly be seamless. But for Zoro, it's served him well so far.]
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As austere as it is, emptying the noise means that there is noise, noise which otherwise might irk, might disrupt. So it's a formula for keeping a disturbance at bay, maintaining the sort of strict self-discipline that certainly appears to rule Zoro's life through and through. Sex, or at least his body's need for release, takes shape as something that he's found a way to put into its place in the ordered regimen of life.
It's all rather divorced from desire like that, granted. But it's not Vrenille's place to question or challenge that--certainly not now or like this. You can't go around disrespecting people like that, believing they ought to live a different way, as if you know what's "good" for them, as though you could live their lives better than they are doing themselves. That's pure hubris.
And frankly, Vrenille being here at all, in context that's a pretty big step--he's being given a chance to meet Zoro on his own terms, understand his outlook. When someone offers you that, you honour it. So what he asks next, though his voice shifts a degree more sultry, the tone for secrets and words of collusion, is all about being with Zoro where he is, accepting a welcome and extending an invitation in return, accompanying, proposing maybe, but not disrupting.]
Do you edge yourself? Bring yourself right to the point where you couldn't stop yourself cumming and then back off 'fore you do. Wait till it ebbs, and then bring yourself that close again. See how many times you'll hold out for?
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...Yeah. Sometimes.
[Vrenille's sultry voice paints a clear scenario, but Zoro doesn't fully lean into it, opting to remain cautiously anchored for now. Still, there's a subtle shift in his posture. Curiosity, maybe. At the very least, it's not a dismissal.
Even if this seems to be an invitation, Zoro hasn't dismissed the possibility that it's also a test. So he studies Vrenille with the watchful focus of a tiger encountering a new element in its territory.]
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It's a craps shoot, ultimately, especially on a first encounter. One can maximise their odds in any number of ways, but no matter who's topping or bottoming or domming or subbing, it's always impossible to be sure in advance whether your partner will satisfy or disappoint (or frustrate, or embarrass, or hurt you). And some guys don't like that. Everyone has their own appetite for risk with sex just like anything.
So that watchful look Zoro is giving him? Vrenille's not phased; he's not even particularly surprised. What he is is very well practiced at handling sexual risk. And what experience has taught him is that there's a lot of value in taking the step to make himself vulnerable first.
He does it now simply by letting his teeth tug the edge of his lower lip, letting the expression in his eyes shift a degree closer to want, and handing Zoro the power to turn him down, shut him down, rebuff the advance.]
You ever do it with someone? Matching each other. Leading each other. Finding a rhythm, and telling 'em when to wait, when to go?
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(And anything worth remembering wouldn't have ended with the marine, whoever he was, disappearing without a word.)
In hindsight, it was pretty stupid. But it was a learning experience, too. That kind of intimacy simply didn't serve him. As his reputation as "the demon" grew, so did Zoro's vigilance. Rebuffing advances became second nature — a curt word or a stare cold enough to extinguish anyone's interest.
A flicker of that reflex ignites in his gut at Vrenille's suggestive look. But this time, a hitch in his breath, Zoro holds it, observing his own reaction. In that sliver of self-awareness, he realizes something: The stakes with Vrenille are laughably low.
So, Zoro exhales slowly, nostrils flaring.]
Not really. But with someone worth the effort, maybe the steps wouldn't be so damn tedious.
[Leaning closer, a challenge glints in his eyes as he adds in a rough voice:]
What makes you think you can handle me, Vrenille?
cw: implied sex work
That's something Vrenille knows how to work with. That's something he likes to work with.
His own memories from long before he ever set foot in Duplicity already involved enough encounters with enough men to blur one into the next--there were some he saw again and again who stood out, figures in bas-relief against the background homogeneity of quick blowjobs behind the Ebon Vanguard barracks and hired rooms above the tavern more memorable for the soft bed and hot bath he could leverage than the company he kept.
The faces of those men may blur, and mostly he never knew their names only the colour of their coin, but that doesn't mean there was no care or intimacy between them, albeit in a nonstandard sort of way. It doesn't mean he didn't learn from them--the sum total of them, each taken one by one.
He learned how to listen, how to hear (and say) "no," but also the more complicated and subtle versions of "yes," the guarded versions of it, the ways that "yes" gets couched as a challenge, or a dare, how it wants sometimes to flirt with danger, rivalry, opposition. And importantly, he learned to tell the difference between the kind of risk that plays and the kind of risk that genuinely threatens. He wouldn't be alive or whole now if he hadn't.
So he's neither lying nor exaggerating when he cocks his head at Zoro, a rakish grin and his voice breathy, low.]
Years of practice and experience.
[He shifts to lean on his side, settling in and getting comfortable, with just a slight note of disbelief and playful counter-challenge coming into his tone.]
And sorry, did you just call jerking off tedious?
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[Zoro flashes his teeth in a way that could be generously called a grin, his dark eyes hardening like polished obsidian. The gap in experience would intimidate some people, but he remains unfazed.]
By the way, I'm not calling you 'sir' either.
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[It's not exactly the highest bar to reach, though it does leave quite a lot of room for damning with faint praise later. Vrenille's not worried about taking his chances though. Zoro's warning just wins a snort of laughter.]
Ugh, good, don't. Sir's for nobles and Pact captains. I ain't fancy. [There are particular occasions and scenes in which Vrenille has accepted being called 'sir.' He doesn't prefer it though. Mostly it's just a concession he makes to those who enjoy the word when it happens. But that's not the most salient point.]
Will you follow my lead though, touch when 'n how I tell you to touch? [That's his only ask for this, that Zoro let him guide them, that he cede enough control for that, just for now.]
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[That's when Zoro absorbs Vrenille's question, its weight settling in his gut. Does it lodge like an unwelcome splinter, or click into place like a missing puzzle piece? He takes a measured beat before answering with an audacious request of his own:]
... Only if we make this interesting. Blindfold yourself. You call the shots, but you won't see anything unless I say so.
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What, seriously? [That's rhetorical though, because even though he's shaking his head, he's also already moving to get up from his bed and find a blindfold.]
Well all right, if you're shy. [He favours Zoro with a teasing, daring look before he disappears from the screen for a moment, and the view of the camera shifts, his hand momentarily in view adjusting the angle and propping the phone in place to show a wider angle of the room: a salvaged chest of drawers that he rummages through from the bottom drawer up, a few items picked up and then discarded before he finds what he's after.
Zoro asked for a blindfold and Vrenille dangles the one he has from a forefinger for approval. He definitely won't be peeking.]
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Not shy.
[He is, deep down. But that's not the game he's playing. Zoro simply isn't in the business of making things easy for LIERs who hold the reins. Thankfully, Vrenille's swift presentation of the blindfold elicits a slow nod of acceptance. This challenge goes both ways, though, so he clarifies:]
Curiosity's fine, and you can always ask to take it off. But the view is on my terms. [A subtle tilt of his head.] ...I wanna see how good you can be. Sound fair?
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Here they're playing, testing each other, seeing how the other will rise to a challenge and how he'll navigate it. There's strategy, and in that they're on much more even ground than the disparities of experience might imply. So Zoro gets a very cheeky grin as Vrenille returns.]
You want me to call you 'sir'?
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Nah. Wouldn't want anyone mistaking me for your personal jerk-off waiter.
[The mere thought of following orders is enough to make him chafe; Vrenille's tone better not sound like a request for tea.]
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Yeah, I'd say the chances of that are low.
[He moves his phone on its tripod to the mattress, positioning it so that it should keep him well in shot, and then without another word or the slightest hesitation, he strips off his shirt and pulls on the blindfold. When he lies down, again on his side, the camera captures him from just below his eyes to about mid-thigh, the soft material of his track pants showing a hint of contours, but not too much. The frame centres muscles and smooth skin with no major scars, a light dusting of hair below his navel. He can't see how he looks though--he has to trust his eyes to Zoro.]
You're gonna have to tell me if the view's all right.
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Zoro watches as he adjusts the camera. Vrenille's physical appeal is undeniable, much like the Marine man before him. His build speaks of someone who keeps himself in shape. But the absence of scars leaves his combat experience, if any, a mystery.
As he secures the blindfold, Zoro shifts on the cot, a subtle release of tension seeping from his own muscles. When he speaks, his words are low and quiet, giving no hint of his internal evaluation.]
No issues here.
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So that only leaves him to get started, and at this point a lot of people might balk or equivocate with nervous laughter and embarrassment. Vrenille just runs his fingertips along his midline, from his clavicle down to the centre of his chest and back again, a relaxed opening on self-stimulation.]
Good. So I thought, I'll just show you what I like to do--tell you. And you can--[His fingers trail lower, to his navel and the top of his waistband]--join me.
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His gaze snags on the dip of Vrenille's navel. A low hum leaves his throat, a sound that hangs in the air, open to interpretation. This may be a game, a dance matched to Vrenille's rhythm, but for now, Zoro lets himself be led.
The leash, after all, isn't one-sided.
Words unhurried, he drawls:]
... Alright, then. Show me what you've got.
I'm in your hands.
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Start rubbing yourself through your pants, just easy, slow. Not in any rush. Let your body relax.
[The fabric stretches a little beneath his fingers, the view of an outline just fleetingly, only semi-hard. He adjusts himself and the material around him as he hardens, and it's probably obvious he's got no underwear on beneath, especially when he pauses to trail his fingers back up.]
Touch your nipples. Could be through your shirt, or maybe you wanna slide your hand inside, touch your skin like I'm doing. But don't pinch or pull 'em. Just slow, gentle.
[With one hand he touches his own, forefinger tracing carefully around the nub of skin, a light friction that tugs and rolls beneath his fingertip. And then, languid touch running the span of his chest, he teases that same touch against the other.
A little sigh of pleasure, and his cock throbs, untouched, a visible pulse that lift the fabric of his pants for a moment as he hardens further.]
un: me
un: swords
who sent you this.
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itssupposed to get my choclate
ifI send it to 12 people
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seems like too much work for too little reward.
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I sentth emessage sfast
12
DONE!
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1/2
2/2
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text; un: makeitpink
Address:
Age:
What are your hobbies and interests?
What is your favorite color?
Do you drink alcohol?
Thanks and super hot Finder pic! xoxo Elle
text, un: sword
sure:
Name: Roronoa Zoro
Address: here
Age: 21
What are your hobbies and interests? drinking and training
What is your favorite color? green
Do you drink alcohol? is water wet
thanks. not sure how they got it, but at least someone was entertained.
🎁 text. un: YourSecretSanta 🎄
Yours,
Daphne Basset
Name: Colin Bridgerton
Address: Dominant Housing, 014-A
Age: 23
What are your hobbies and interests? Pursuit befitting a gentleman. I enjoy a good whisky as much as I enjoy a good book.
What is your favorite color? Blue
Do you drink alcohol? Yes
Is there a note you would like to leave for your Secret Santa? Merry Christmas!
If there is anything else you would like to share, please do so here. Anthony would also include an additional note that states "My brother has had a bit of a rough beginning to his time here. He is kind and sentimental and would benefit from a bit of holiday cheer. -A"
OOC
Character Journal:
Character Inbox Link: link
Secret Santa Delivery
With the warmest wishes for Midwinter, and for the year to come.
From your Secret Santa
[...Linneus sadly did not know whether or not names should be revealed at the end. Oops?
Inside is a sturdy green-leather drinks chest and, in absence of guidance on Zoro's preferred drink
(or a price limit), Linneus has included a selection of three - a whiskey, a brandy, and a rum - in the hopes of assuring a very merry Christmas indeed. In addition to the bar tools, sipping glasses, and jigger included in the side wings, there is a small recess in the top lid holding a hip flask for good measure.]((with apologies for the OOC delay <3))
text ✁ un: the other dean
text, un: sword
previous owner wasn't using it properly.
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lucky for them, I don't like making messes.
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doesn't feel right otherwise.
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Is this like, it's in your one enemy so you can use the other two and it's there when you need it?
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nah, I keep what's mine.
not above letting myself get stabbed for a good opening.
but I haven't needed to.
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but I won't be defeated
whatever the cost.